The perpetrator is saying he's flying into Bangkok, next week -
under another name.
He's making his move. I want you to get the DEA on his tail.
Call the Bangkok police, whatever you gotta do to eyeball this scumbag.
I'm sorry, Sister.
I just wish to fuck I could go there myself.
Come on.
That'll be the day, the NYPD springin' for a ticket to Hong Kong, eh?
You guys are doing a great job. Keep it up.
Rizzo, come on.
I want you to hit Chinatown like Genghis Khan.
I want restaurant health violations. I want immigration busts, gambling raids.
You were meant to shake up the gang kids, not turn the whole city upside down.
Let me make this real clear to you, White, here and now.
Joey Tai goes to the Manhattan Borough president,
who he contributes $100,000 a year to, all right?
The borough president goes to the mayor. The mayor goes to me.
And the word is, lay off.
That is the way the game is played, OK?
No more wiretaps on Joey Tai. And you don't go to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Going to outside agencies isn't your job. It is Lou's job.
And what about the dead tourists, Commissioner, huh?
I guess they don't add up to a can of sardines, do they?
You change your tune pretty fast just cos that slimebag has tea with the mayor.
You can't link Joey Tai to that. You know it. The point is that you cease and desist.
What if I don't, huh? What are you gonna do? You gonna suspend me?
What will that look like in the papers? You tell me.
You suspend the most decorated cop in the city.
You call off an investigation into the Chinese Mafia.
What investigation? What Chinese Mafia? The investigation's in your mind.
What's it gonna look like? You tell me.
Your department's gonna look like shit, that's what.
- Are you blackmailing me? - Call it what you want.
I've been swallowing the bullshit around here for 10 years, and I'm choking on it.
- You ever think about your pension? - Fuck that!
That's what's wrong with this department.
Everybody's so worried about their pension.
- Stanley... - Oh.
Never have I ever heard anything like this. This is a fucking disgrace!
No, Lou. This is a fuckin' war, and I'm not gonna lose it. Not this one.
Not over politics. It's always fuckin' politics!
This is Vietnam all over again.
Nobody wants to win this thing, do you?
Just flat out win, do they, Lou?
You go to the press again, White, you know what you're doin'?
You're putting a gun to my head, Stanley.
That's what we are. We're four guys in a room with guns to our heads.
Kearney, will you step outside for a minute?
I can't listen to this crap no more, Stanley.
I can't watch a good man piss his career down the drain like this.
You never had any respect for anything, did you?
- First, you throw away your wife. - Shut up!
Now, you're turning on us cos you got delusions of grandeur,
sucking up to this Chink reporter to get your face on the tube. What is it with you?
- She do it sideways or something? - Take it back, Lou.
Don't tell me to take it back. You got no shame.
Connie was the best thing you ever had in your life.
That wasn't between cops. It was between two guys from the old neighbourhood.
Lou, I'm sorry.
Look... I don't know why we're fighting.
I love you. I love Connie.
But when things aren't working at home, you overreact to things on the street.
We all had flings when we were young. I'm not a prude.
Why don't you at least sit down with Connie and try to straighten this out?
Even if you walk away, you walk away friends.
Cos no one's gonna care when you're lyin' in your grave but Connie and me.
Well?
What are you gonna do, Stanley?
I don't know. All I know is that when I give up...
the system gives up.
(banging on door)
"(Stanley)" Tracy!
- Tracy! - I'm coming!
Tracy!
Come on, open the door!
Hey!
- Oh. - Who do you think you are?
And what are you doing with that?
These are my Chinese books. I'm movin' in.
You what?
Did I misinterpret what you were saying when I was lying on top of you?
Fuck you!
You Chinese, why don't you ever say what you really think?
- I'm going to call Roger. - I got somethin' I wanna say to him, too.
Go away, will you, Stanley?
You're cracked. You're really crazy.
Do you ever listen to yourself?
Come on, tell me... Ow! Tell me the truth. There is no Roger, is there?
Know how I know? It's because when you talk about him, your eyes, they're not real.
There is a Roger.
Well, tell me what you see in this guy. Come on, tell me. I wanna know.
I want you to look me in the eyes, and I want you to say it.
What do I have to do to get you out of here? Holy God!
Nothin'. It's hopeless.
Surrender.
Why am I laughing?
I'm becoming a crazy, like you.
Oh...
I'm tired.
I think I need to sleep.
Maybe everybody's right.
I'm chasing something that doesn't exist. I ought to stop.
Jesus, I'm tired.
It's the same thing as in 'Nam.
We lost because you were smarter than us.
And you couldn't even have a decent parade.
A fuckin' Chinese parade. They come at you in 15 different directions.
Fuckin' joke.
Stanley...
you can't stay here.
Don't you have a friend I could call? Or somebody you could stay with tonight?
You're the only friend I have left.
I just wanna be with somebody tonight. I just...
I don't know anybody else.
Isn't that a real laugh?
I don't know anybody.
I feel like such an asshole.
Tracy, I, uh...
I love you.
Did you hear what I said?
I thought there was no Chinese word for love.
I'm serious.
I know you are.
It was bad enough doing business with the old general, that slime,
but Ban Sung's even worse. But you lose all face by dealing with him direct.
- Ban Sung has an ego like an octopus. - I know. And I don't trust his agent here.
That fuck White Powder Ma knows Ban Sung's got a crop of 150 to 200 tons.
Ma offered him 6,000 a key, plus a shipment of kalashnikov assault rifles.
Hey.
"(in Chinese)" Hey, brother Ma! Hello!
- I'm so happy to see you. - Have a seat.
I'm so glad.
We meet at last, huh?
Little brother, I was very sorry to hear that your father-in-law had been killed.
You know, it's not as easy for us to do business without his guidance.
We in the Nam Soong have been wondering who could have done this.
We think that whoever is responsible for assassinating him
is no better than a crow that flies up the ass of a dead animal
to reach the gut without work.
It's so dirty, so despicable.
There's also some news.
I hear that this guy has been causing trouble in Toronto.
- Really? - It's intolerable.
But don't worry, I'm not going to let a crow bother me.
Brother Ma, you have really enlightened me.
I think we should share our information.
If we work together, we will surely catch this stinking crow.
We'll tear off his wings and cut off his tail.
I'm leaving in the morning.
It would give me great pleasure to invite you to dinner tonight.
It would be great if you could come.
- Will you? - OK.
- I will be there. - That's wonderful.
All right, then.
- I will see you tonight. - See you tonight.
Thanks, bye.
(church bell ringing)
(conversation in Polish)
Will you open the door?
What do I gotta do, break it down?
We gotta clear the air between us. We gotta talk it out.
So talk.
I don't know what got into me with this Chinese girl.
I care more about you than anybody in the world.
I mean, if you don't know that, Connie, then...
So what do you want me to say?
Do you want me to forgive you, Stanley? Is that what you want?
The truth is, I don't know what I want.
You wanna marry her? You wanna have babies with her?
Look, I didn't plan for things to happen this way.
It just happened.
How do you think that makes me feel?
It makes me feel pretty low, Stanley.
I feel pretty low myself.
It's about time.
You used me up, Stanley, and then you burned me down.
And I was a rock. I carried the cross with you in Brooklyn and in Queens.
I lived in a fuckin' war zone with you.
Now, you're gonna go off and have babies with a woman ten years younger than me.
I don't have any pity for you, Stanley. I... hope you feel bad.
Look, why don't we just let things ride for a while?
Just let some time pass?
- I don't have any time. - I just need some time to think.
I'm outta time.
I'm 35, sliding into 40.
So what do you want me to do?
You want me to just walk away, just like that?
- Is that what you want? - It's over, Stanley.
Don't you get it? We're not playing from the same sheet music any more.
Now, will you get out of here... before I start to cry?
And I don't wanna do that. Not in front of you.
I got my pride.
"(Stanley)" You OK?
I'm washing my face.
Look, Connie...
I'd feel a whole lot better if you'd just keep the house and the bank accounts.
I mean, whatever's mine is yours. I don't want the house anyway.
"(Connie)" Stanley?
- Stanley! What the hell's goin' on? - They got Connie!
Stanley! What, are you crazy?!
Stanley! Stanley, get outta there!
Stanley!
Get outta here!
- What, are you crazy?! - He's evidence.
He's dead!
Long time no see, Joey Tai.
It's an honour and a pleasure to see you again, General.
Time looks like it's been good to you.
And to you, too, honourable cousin.
The last time, as I remember, both of us were taking orders.
Now we give them.
How is the health of our old friend, the great Sao Mong Khawn,
who paved the golden road of our success together?
Truly, he is one of the great ones.
He'll be happy to see you, Go Joey. I think so.
Come. I think we'll surprise him.
Perhaps the general doesn't recognise you.
The general likes heroin in his soup.
Keeps him happy.
Thank all gods, he feels no pain.
Come, Go Joey.
A kalashnikov! Best rifle ever made.
The Russians used to give them to us to fight the Burmese,
but now it's harder to get. They want dollars.
Everybody wants dollars.
One bullet, by the time it gets to me, costs me one American dollar.
Dollars are like small fish:
Difficult to catch, but not to be thrown back, except as bait for something bigger.
I'll make it 4500 a kilo.
You give me 6500,
and I'll refine it to number four right here myself.
- No, no. - You'll have 200 keys in two weeks.
(speaks Chinese)
You know we can't control the quality unless we refine it to stage four ourselves.
- We've always bought stage three. - You don't think my dragon pearl's good?
- I have the best chemists in the world. - Maybe.
Better than your people in Hong Kong.
But then we would be forced to unemploy our chemists.
Go Joey, I offer you the chance of putting your old friend out of his misery.
He was going to betray us to the Americans.
Hold him!
"(in Chinese)" Save me! Save me!
No, don't!
Don't shoot me!
"(in English)" You don't have the bullet to spare.
Each bullet can kill one Burmese soldier.
Then you don't have to use a gun.
"(in Chinese)" Don't do this to me!
"(in English)" I'll buy him from you. $5,000.
Buy?
US dollars, cash. Now.
- Why? - Why not?
If you think this shit-faced old worm is worth $5,000, you can have him.
Good!
"(in Chinese)" Let him go!
The food was great, and your hospitality has left an impression, General.
But time is short. I must be in Hong Kong before the banks close on Friday.
My final offer.
I'll make it 4900 a key for your number three dragon pearl.
I'll take 200 kilos, deliverable in Bangkok early next week.
Another 800 kilos for the next three months. Beyond that, I won't go.
White Powder Ma's offer makes yours insignificant.
Piss on him! Nam Soong Triad is like dog shit littering the streets.
They'll be extinct in two years.
I think perhaps I put my money on White Powder Ma.
I think so.
I think White Powder Ma will be pleased to hear this.
Tell him yourself.
My gift to Ban Sung,
in honour of our association.
Let no motherless fuck ever raise his head again between us.
(priest reading service in Polish)
I'm sorry, Stanley.
She looks beautiful, Stanley.
"(man)" Let me through!
Let me through!
My deepest condolences to you, Mr White.
She said it wasn't that Chinese girl. Connie was a bigger person than that.
She knew what was gonna happen. You should have listened to her.
- You talked to Connie behind my back? - Yes. I talked to Connie behind your back.
I knew Connie even longer than you. Why shouldn't I talk to her if I want to?
You and I don't agree on anything.
That's your problem. You're fighting the whole world.
I'm sick and tired of Vietnam as an excuse for everything you guys do.
You act like everybody in World War II and Korea came home to a picnic.
It wasn't. We lost 50,000 men in Korea. We came back and nobody gave a shit.
But we fitted in. Why can't you fit in? What is it that's so different?
I don't know what you're talking about any more.
You know! I know you're not one of them professional Vietnam veterans
who make a career outta groaning about the war. You made something of yourself.
But you're still acting like you're on a crusade.
You think you got the right to trample over anything and everything.
We got an arrangement, a treaty with these Chinese.
And however tarnished it is, it works. Life is arrangement, Stanley.
Life is getting along. That's why this neighbourhood is what it is.
That's why eight million people every day in this city can function.
I don't want to argue with you any more. Honest, I don't.
Take it easy.
You need anything, you call me. You hear?
- There's always a bed at my place. - Your arrangement is what killed Connie.
- Mr Tai? - Mr Tai?
Mr Tai, people in Chinatown are saying Ronnie Chang was your protégé,
and his involvement in the murder of Mrs White implicates you.
- Do you have any comment? - That was a terrible tragedy,
but I hardly knew Ronnie Chang.
Ronnie Chang represents much of what is bad in Chinatown.
We are trying hard to get rid of this element.
My sources say you have returned from Bangkok. Was there a business purpose?
I have interests there. I import foods from the Far East.
I also have a company that distributes films in Thailand. Why do you ask?
Would this business take you into the jungle 500 miles north of Bangkok,
to meet with a reputed drug lord by the name of Ban Sung?
Do you know there are ethical boundaries, Miss Tzu, even for the press?
Then does the name White Powder Ma ring a bell?
Cut it.
I know your sources, and I'll raise the issue with your legal department.
Hey, I don't give a shit! I got the new lady district attorney behind me on this now.
You think the NYPD is gonna lift a finger for me? No.
No, I'm not gonna tell you where I am.
Look, I'm gonna make this case with the DEA, Customs, lmmigration, if I have to.
It's Internal Affairs sniffing around again. I bet you it's that fuck Kearney.
Get me Scappy Peck on the line at Customs. He owes me a few favours.
What'd that son of a bitch say about White Powder Ma?
What is all this?! What's happened?
I couldn't work in my office - the walls have ears.
I let you use this place, but this is ridiculous!
Get off the phone. And get these people out of here. Right now!
- Scappy Peck's on the line. - No! No more calls.
Look at this place! I give you an inch and you take a mile!
I want these people out of here right now. I mean it.
Look, I don't have time to write you thank you notes.
I'm going for Joey Tai's throat, and nobody's gonna stop me.
So just don't break my balls, all right?
Just hang in there a while, and you'll be famous. That's what you want, isn't it?
You ungrateful, overbearing, self-centred son of a bitch!
- Don't tell me what I want. - That's it. Let's hear it. "lgnorant Polack."
Everybody, get out!
- Sit down. - "(Herbert chuckles)"
What's so funny?
You drive everybody crazy, not just me.
She's an aristocrat. You can't push her around.
- That's an aristocrat? - She's Mandarin. They're like that.
Call Wainright back. This is bullshit. We're not gettin' anywhere.
That dope is somewhere between here and Thailand. It's on the move.
We gotta get a tap into Joey Tai's office in the restaurant.
You must be kidding me. A white face would never get in there.
- Impossible. - Come on.
You could get in there as a bus boy or somethin'.
After that... plenty of time off for sleep, promotion.
- No way, Captain. - A tough kid from Kwangtung?
A kid whose ancestors used to hang in baskets in the Sierras,
poking dynamite sticks in cliff faces?
All I'm asking you to do is be a fly on the wall.
Your ancestors are rolling in their graves.
Goddamn bullshit, Captain! You're pushing too much. I'm no slave.
I gave up my security job. I gave up my chauffeur job.
I send less money home. I'm tired all the time. I don't eat right.
I'm getting sick. I die, I'm fucked! My family's fucked!
- For what? - What do you mean?
You don't care nothing for people. You make us all die for you.
Let me tell you something.
When your ancestors lived in caves and scrabbled for coal in Poland,
the Chinese were sailing their ships across the Pacific.
- What do you know about my ancestors? - What do you know about mine?
We were traders, shipbuilders, explorers.
We taught you agriculture. We gave you oranges, grapes, your irrigation system.
We dug your gold and silver, Stanley. We taught you how to fish the Pacific.
And still we were barred from American citizenship until 1943.
We worked so hard to build your railroads that when our opium didn't come on time,
we were so desperate, we helped each other kill ourselves!
But I'm not going to kill myself for you, Captain White.
No more "Chinaman Joe". Those days are over.
He'll be back. He loves me.
Look, Stan, the kid's pushing it to the limit.
I don't know, maybe we should take him off the case.
No undercover has lasted more than a month in Chinatown.
Let me tell you something. That kid is tough as nails.
And I'm going to make it up to him.
"(in Chinese)" It's none of your business.
You have to remember to call. Why don't you call now?
Pick it up.
Shh.
(in Chinese) This piece of news is not good.
It puts us in a very bad place. What's going to happen next?
Will our faces appear in the newspapers?
How this reporter found out about your trip to Thailand is a serious problem.
It worries me very much!
It makes the Nam Soong very upset about White Powder Ma.
Very unhappy.
And also our old friends the Italians are very angry.
Say something!
Now you know what you've got yourself into.
You have some nerve, trying to kill the cop on your own and not succeeding!
Are you thinking with your ass or your brain?
Our nephew has overemphasised the Thailand end of the business,
at the risk of endangering our other enterprises!
How can you get rewards without taking risks?
- All you're doing is yelling at me. - Bastard!
Watch what you're saying.
Uncle, listen to me. These guys in Toronto are not a problem.
- Not a problem! - They will be easy to take care of.
The Italians are a separate issue.
They'll want to work with us again once we make a move.
What they're saying in the papers, let them. Who cares?
And like a fly's bite on an elephant's ass, ignore it.
- I'll take care of it. - You can take care of everything.
Uncle, the new shipment arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday,
and it was in Amsterdam by Saturday.
I spoke to our chemist in Hong Kong.
He guarantees us one load every two weeks.
Uncle, think about it.
What my father-in-law did in a year, I did in three months.
Three months! Nonsense!
When is it due in New York?
Less than a week. Our money is ready at the bank.
We can get it by next Monday.
How much faster do you want me to move?
It's too dangerous to take a delivery now.
- Can't wait a month? - We can't wait!
If you send it back to Harlem now, it will only increase the risk!
You don't have to worry. I have complete confidence in our couriers.
I trust them. I'll take care of it.
Are we still working with Rising Sun Lines?
No. It's a new company.
Which new company?
I think it's best not to tell you the name of the ship now. It's too dangerous.
Excuse me. I'll be right back.
Ah, shit! The goddamn name of the ship!
White has a wire in your office.
- Who? - I don't know, but I'm gonna find out.
Perez!
I don't want anything to go wrong with this shipment. It's important.
- Don't worry. - I want you at the pier.
- All right. Where? - The "Kazimierz Pulaski."
Polish. It docks Tuesday. Pier 11.
- I'll be there. - Thanks.
"(in Chinese)" OK, everybody back to work.
(woman screams)
Stanley!
Hey! Hey!
Herbert, you're gonna be all right. I'm proud as hell of you.
Eleven.
What?
- The dock. - Get to Beekman, for Christ's sakes!
- What was the name of the ship? - Dear God in heaven.
Kazimierz Pu... Pul...
He's at the bar.
You and me are gonna have a talk about Herbert Kwong.
Get off me!
Got you, you little fuckin'... I'm gonna kill you, you little cocksuckin' bastard.
Fuckin'...
Press charges! I'm beggin' ya.
Come on, Joey, call a cop.
Come on, let's go to court.
- Come on, I'm beggin' you. - No more now, Stan.
Oh, shit!
Get out! Get out! Get the fuck out! Come on! Let's go!
Get your fuckin' ass in there.
Fucker!
Bastard!
- You look like you're gonna die, beautiful. - Oh, yeah? Don't count on it.
You are. You're not gonna make it.
Was it worth it?
You got anything you wanna tell me before you go, sweetheart?
Yeah. Fuck you.
"(officer)" What happened, Captain?
- Got one in the chest. - Captain, what the hell happened?
"(in Chinese)" You run too fast.
So you fall down, see?
Looking back on the days of Jackie Wong,
things were so peaceful.
Now, in the interest of all Chinatown,
our relationship with the press,
with City Hall, especially with the Italians,
has to return to the old ways.
Joey, he has a point there.
I think that Joey is young and inexperienced.
He has offended Harry.
This has caused Harry to colour the situation with personal animosity.
If it were up to me, I would take care of it right away.
Dealing with things this way will benefit no one.
In dealing with the white devils,
we have always stuck together through thick and thin.
You don't trust me now.
No matter what, I guarantee that you won't lose anything.
I will be at the pier to pick up the goods.
Look, I'm talking about one ship outta Rotterdam.
The "Kazimierz Pulaski."
What the hell's the problem?
You know how big that ship is, Stanley?
We can't go running around rippin' up floor plates, cuttin' boilers open,
pokin' through 10,000 Edam cheeses,
or drillin' in a shipment of Danish furniture on your say-so, Stanley.
It's a lot of money involved. We got passengers. We got waitin' time.
Besides, it's the flagship of a foreign government.
Hey, look, all I'm asking you to do is go through one ship.
I got a deathbed confession. A cop died for this.
You're pissing against the wind, ace. Get a live informant.
- Are you OK? - Yeah.
- You shouldn't have come here. - Embarrassed your friends will see me?
Tonight's the night. Get your crew to pier 11. We're gonna watch the rice boil over.
- I have to talk to you. - What? What is it? What is it?
Are you gonna weasel out on me? What? Spit it out!
I can't go there. I've been told not to do any more stories on this.
- You've been told? By who? - By the network, Stanley.
What? There's a war going on down in Chinatown and you're not gonna cover it?
Look, I don't think this is the time or the place.
Why don't you tell me the time and a place, and we'll go there and discuss it?
Would you quit? There's times you have to know when to quit.
Oh, yeah? Did Herbert quit?
What's wrong with you? He's dead! Connie's dead!
I'm putting my whole life on the line, and you're sitting here,
acting like some phoney white-bread cunt!
You're not even white. You're Chinese. Those are your people down there!
I mean, are you a reporter? Are you a whore? What?
You're a son of a bitch, Stanley.
The day you put your ass on the line, that's the day you'll be a real reporter.
My ass on the line? Goddamn you, Stanley!
I was almost killed for you.
I was raped. And I'm not gonna die for you.
I'm not gonna be pushed like Connie and Herbert. They're dead...
What do you mean, you were raped?
- You're like poison, Stanley. - Who did this to you?
- Who? - Rape is rape.
- Who? Who raped you? - Three boys.
- Who? - Three boys.
- Who raped you?! - Three Chinese boys, Stanley.
He went too far this time, that fucking Joey.
It didn't happen to you! It happened to me!
You don't give a shit about me, do you?
- I'm gonna kill him. - Leave, Stanley.
Go away and leave me alone.
You should take a look at yourself, Stanley.
You're selfish. You're callous.
You're indifferent to suffering.
Your wife was right,
and you still don't get the message.
How many more people are you gonna kill before you do?
- Tracy, I... - No. Just go away and leave me alone.
Don't say anything. Just go away!
Hello, Stanley.
You weren't in your office.
Hello, Lou.
Francis, I'm disappointed. You didn't show for Connie's funeral.
You were warned about Joey Tai.
Clean your desk. You're goin' back to Brooklyn.
You've been properly served.
I'm sorry. You were told to lay off.
If you think that I'm gonna stand for that, you're wrong.
You don't like it, resign. You're through anyway. It's all over for you, White.
Your balls'll be cut off Friday!
You're not cops, you're lies, both of you.
- You don't bend, you break, Stanley. - Then I'll break.
- You care too much, Stanley. - How can anybody care too much?
Go on. Go on.
What the...?
Jesus!
Get outta my sight!
What is this?
- What do you want? - Tell me where the heroin is on the ship,
and you walk outta here with a head start.
You...
Joey!
(Joey screams)
Come on!
(distant sirens)
Give me your gun.
For pity's sake. Please.
Tell me where it is!
Mercedes. Please.
(gunshot)
(brass band playing funeral music)
There are those who liken Chinatown to a skating pond.
On the surface we see a picture-postcard landscape of snowflakes and skaters,
but underneath, the cannibal fish, the gangs,
the sharks, those who control the gangs, and the whales, the big bosses,
all move in deadly swarms.
These bosses, some people are saying, are in an international crime network,
with its headquarters in Hong Kong. Everyone denies it.
But in the wake of the shootings of Joey Tai and Ronnie Chang,
questions are mushrooming left and right.
Charges of illegal wiretapping have been levelled by HJ Yung,
head of the Hun San association,
resulting in the removal of Captain Stanley White.
One wonders if this is not a smoke screen to distract from the main issue,
which is what part the Hun San plays in this Chinese opera.
Tracy Tzu, Chinatown.
OK, that's it.
Stanley! Stanley!
- Where's he going? - He's a great cop, but he won't stop.
- White! What the hell is goin' on? - I'm arresting these people.
You wanna do something they'll remember in Chinatown?
Book 'em! Be a cop again!
Stanley!
Stanley! Oh, thank God!
You know, you were right. I was wrong. Sorry.
I'd like to be a nice guy. I would.
I just don't know how to be nice.
You're really cracked, you know that?
(sings in Chinese)
Visiontext Subtitles: Adrian Isaac